


Or The One Where Cabbage Goes Well With Salt

by nervousjazzhands



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: College AU, M/M, Modern AU, abe is... alarmingly gay in this tbh, i Know everyone makes college aus but listen.... i dont give a Fuk, its one in the morning when im making these tags, read for a good time!!!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 09:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6950854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervousjazzhands/pseuds/nervousjazzhands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>rob and abe are both stupid about love, and abe cannot hold his liquor for shit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Or The One Where Cabbage Goes Well With Salt

Rob doesn’t technically _dislike_ parties. They’re good as a sort of abstract concept, mostly because abstract concepts can’t spill shitty beer on his favorite shirt. Or try to really clumsily flirt with him, something the idiot across from him has been doing for the past fifteen minutes. Rob would be impressed by this guy’s ability to think up such terrible pick up lines, but from the suspicious stains on this guy’s shirt, he’s pretty sure that he’s had some help from the aforementioned shitty beer that seems so prevalent at this party.

“Hey Rob!”

Oh thank god. Rob’s roommate, Ben, has shown up and given him an escape from these awful pickup lines.

“I see you’ve met Abe,” Ben says, once they’ve escaped outside on the fire escape of the apartment.

“ _That’s_ Abe?” Ben had only dragged Rob to this party to meet his friend Abe, because he claimed that ‘they would either get along like a house on fire or actually set a house on fire.’

“I had expected someone more… sober,” Rob said in a dulled tone, staring at the apartment wall across from where he and Ben were standing.

Ben opened his mouth and was about to say something before the door back into the apartment opened up and someone bounded out to envelope Ben in a massive hug. For a moment Rob was worried that Abe had managed to find him again and that he would need to climb down the fire escape. It turned out to only be Caleb Brewster though, thank god. Caleb is usually fine, mostly because Rob is pretty sure that it’s impossible for him to get drunk, and he’s always been pleasant to Rob when they’ve talked.

“Can you guys please come back inside? I just shook Abe, he cornered me and he’s been waxing poetical about Rob’s eyes for the past five minutes,” Caleb said once he was done hugging Ben, still letting his arm float slightly above his waist.

Rob has never been sure if Ben and Caleb are actually dating. He’s known Ben for about a year, and they’ve never really talked about it. Rob doesn’t want to ask, incase Ben and Caleb are those sorts of friends who don’t realize that they’re in love. He’s not really sure how that could be possible though, it’s sort of hard to miss. It’s not like his relationship with either of them would change that drastically if they were, but Rob likes to know that sort of stuff about his friends.

Ben bursts out laughing, burying his head in Caleb’s shoulder. Caleb looks that him fondly, and Rob vaguely wishes that a car would fall on him. It can he hard to be around people so violently in love as Ben and Caleb are for long period of time, especially when they're both a little drunk.

“We should go back, I haven’t heard Abe properly drunkenly pine since tenth grade,” Ben eventually says, still sort of giggling.

So Rob follows them back inside, because it’s a little cold on the fire escape and he really doesn’t want to become one of those college kids who sit on fire escapes and contemplates reality or something. They find Abe quickly, and sit down on the old couch he’s sitting on.

“So,” Ben starts up, once he realizes that if someone doesn’t start up a conversation Abe is going to spend the rest of the night staring at Rob.

“So,” Caleb echoes, and Rob decides that the fire escape actually sounds pretty nice right now, and quickly excuses himself.

John Andre and Peggy Shippen are making out on the fire escape when he gets there, and he knows that he should be happy for them or something, but Rob was really looking forward to not dealing with any more couples. If he wanted to see grossly sweet displays of love, he would go back inside and talk to Ben and Caleb some more.

Rob leaves the party pretty quickly after that. Ben and Caleb are so wrapped up in each other that he’s not actually sure if they’re two separate people anymore, and they were really the only people he knew there anyway.

Eventually Rob walks back to the dorm he and Ben share and promptly falls into to a dreamless sleep.

~ ~ ~

Life for Rob doesn’t change that much after he meets Abe. He doesn’t see him much after the party, and Abe avoids his gaze whenever they pass each other in the halls. They do pass each other more that you would think though, Yale is a pretty big college and Rob doesn’t remember seeing Abe as much as he did before the party. Now it seems like Rob can’t go anywhere without seeing one of Abe’s ridiculous beanies. He would be concerned, but Abe hasn’t tried to talk to him and Rob doubts that Ben would be friends with a stalker.

Ben however, has been acting remarkably strange ever since the party. He’s always been a little absent minded, especially when he has a lot of work due, but recently he’s been zoning out constantly and bumping into furniture more than usual. Something must have happened at the party once Rob left between him and Caleb, since Caleb has also been acting weird. Rob doesn’t know Caleb that well, but even he can tell that something is wrong with both of them. He would try to talk to Ben about it, or at least try to coerce the truth out of him through passive-aggressive interrogation, but it isn’t really any of his business.

Rob just hopes that Ben and Caleb work out whatever’s been going on with them soon. They both look too much like kicked puppies for their own good, and they’re so disgustingly perfect for each other that Rob can’t imagine that whatever they’re fighting about is a legitimate problem.

Rob puts that all aside and goes back to wiping down the counter of the hole-in-the-wall coffeeshop that he works at. He doesn’t actually need to be cleaning it right now, but it’s not like there are any customers. Ever. Sometimes Rob wonders how Sackett keeps the place running when he’s pretty sure that the only customers are Ben and Caleb, but he gets a paycheck every month and free coffee so he’s not complaining.

So Rob doesn’t look up when the bell above the door rings, assuming that it’s Ben or Caleb. Sackett’s always saying how he needs to be polite to customers, but it's not like they actually _have_ any customers for Rob to be polite to..

“Oh, sorry, Ben told me to come here to pick him up something, but I can leave.”

Rob’s head shoots up. He hits his head on a low shelf, and he almost swears that he’s hallucinating, because there’s Abraham Woodhull, _an actual customer,_ in the cafe. Nevermind that he’s only getting something for Ben. The point is, more than four people know about the existence of Culper’s (technically the store’s called Culpepper’s, but the person who made the sign misheard Sackett). Rob vaguely remembers that he should be weirded out by talking with Abe after the party, but he’s honestly so surprised that anyone is even in the shop that he doesn't even care.

Rob realizes that he’s been staring at Abe and smiling like a fool at the prospect at customers, so he clears his throat and asks what he can get Abe.

“Ben just wants a black coffee.”

Yes. Ben. Coffee. These things are important right now, not the fact that Abe isn’t wearing a beanie today and his hair looks really soft.

Wait. What? God, maybe Ben’s weirdness is contagious, because Rob is definitely not the kind of person who forgives people for being douche-y drunks because they have nice hair. Ben’s friend or not, Rob has _standards_. So he sort of sneers at Abe when he gives him Ben’s coffee, and goes back to scrubbing the counter with renewed vigor.

~ ~ ~

When Rob tells Caleb about his encounter with Abe, he laughs for a full minute and makes a half-formed innuendo about coffee pots. He hadn’t planned on telling anyone, but Caleb had been looking particularly sad over Ben and possibly the only thing more dangerous than a drunk Caleb Brewster is a sad Caleb Brewster. Rob really doesn’t think that his interaction with Abe was that out of the ordinary. He was happy to have a new customer. So what. He’s a business major, he likes business. Customers give you business. It’s all very logical. 

According to Caleb though, ‘Woody’s finally pulled his head out of his ass enough to talk to you,’ and Rob should capitalize. He’s not quite sure what Caleb means by that, but honestly that true about half the things Caleb says.

Abe keeps coming to the coffee shop after that, sometimes to buy himself coffee, sometimes to buy it for Ben and Caleb. Sometimes he even says he’s getting a tea for Mary or something for Abigail, and Rob eventually realizes that the amount of people aware of Culper’s has taken a 75% increase since he’s met Abe. He even thinks about offering him a job, but then he wouldn’t be able to buy people their coffee. It would be nice to spend more time with Abe though.

~ ~ ~

Rob hasn’t been outside of his dorm in four days, thanks to the nastiest cold he’s ever had. Sackett is out of town, so Rob doesn’t need to worry about the shop, but he hates being cooped up. He’s already bored of watching movies all day and doing nothing but eat chicken soup. He vaguely considered texting someone to hang out on day two, but he’d probably just get them sick anyway. So he just lies there, staring up at the bumpy dorm ceiling and waiting for his cold medication to kick in.

He must have fallen asleep, because he’s woken up by someone knocking on the door a few hours later. 

“Come in!” he whisper-yells, his voice raspy from coughing. Ben left the door unlocked so Rob wouldn’t lock himself outside like he did the last time he had a fever, and this way Rob doesn't have to get up to let people in.

The door opens to reveal Abe holding what looks suspiciously like chicken noodle soup, and Rob curses himself for looking like such a mess. His hair is shaped weirdly from how he’d been sleeping, and the shirt he’s sleeping in is more holes than fabric at this point. Not that he cares what he looks like in front of Abe, but Rob wants people to respect him, and it’s pretty hard to be taken seriously when you’re doped up on flu meds.

“Ben told me you were sick, so I brought you some soup. Do you need anything, like some medicine or anything….?” Abe says, trailing off.

"You can put the soup on my desk. I’m fine,” Rob lays his head back on the pillow and watches Abe put the soup away and go to leave.

“Wait!” someone says, and it takes a few minutes for Rob to realize that he’s the one who said it. “Why are you doing this? I’ve been a total ass to you for two weeks and the longest conversation we’ve had was just you trying to hit on me for fifteen minutes.”

“Sorry about that,” Abe says with a wince, clearly avoiding the question.

“I don’t mind,” Rob says, because apparently this flu has warped his mind to all shit.

Abe goes to sit on Ben’s bed, and Rob eventually goes back to sleep. Abe is gone when he wakes up, and Rob manages to convince himself that no part of him wished that he had stayed. It would have been weird, anyway, for Abe to just watch him sleep.

~ ~ ~

Abe starts coming into the shop more and more after that, drinking coffee and talking to Rob. Ben and Caleb eventually come back, complaining that Abe hasn’t been delivering their coffee anymore, and most days they bring Anna and Mary with them. They all usually clear out of the cafe pretty quickly though, leaving Abe and Rob alone. One day Abe catches Rob playing checkers against himself, and they quickly begin to play each other every day. Abe is a good player, and he would probably win most of the time if Rob hadn’t had so much practice on the days when nobody even came into Culper’s. It’s nice, playing Abe, when the afternoon sunlight lazily drifts through the old curtains and the only sounds are the little noises Abe makes when he’s concentrating. 

Rob eventually realizes that he probably likes Abe. This is an unsettling fact. Not because he's _surprised_ that he likes Abe, just because he’s not entirely sure where these feelings came from. He doesn’t even know Abe’s number, and yet he considers him one of his closest friends. It’s also vaguely troubling because Rob realizes that his feeling for Abe might be less than plutonic. Not that that’s really a bad thing, it’s just that Rob doesn't really know how to react. The last time he dated someone had been in high school, and the only reason they had gotten together was because the other guy asked Rob out first. Possibly the only thing that Rob dislikes more than people who are snobs about coffee is sharing his feelings with people. So he just decides to file these feeling away, and if he and Abe eventually get together, so be it. And if they don’t, Rob is already in denial, which means he can bypass the first stage of grief.

~ ~ ~

text from: Baker- 11:56 AM

hey rob. could you talk to abe? hes been texting me all night only i dont think he knows its me because all hes been talking about is you

Rob isn’t sure how Baker expects Rob to talk to Abe, seeing as Rob still doesn’t know his number. He could ask someone, but that might arouse suspicion, so he just goes through Ben’s contacts until he find him. (He should probably feel bad for this, but it’s sort of Ben’s fault for having a passcode as easy as Caleb’s birthday.)

“Hello Abe,” Rob says, once Abe picks up

“Hey.” Abe doesn’t question how Rob got his number, and Rob is glad because he doesn’t Abe to think he’s a snoop.

“Can I come over?” 

“Sure.”

And that’s how, thanks to Baker, Rob ends up in front of Abraham Woodhull’s dorm at 12:03 PM on a Wednesday night regretting ever meeting the cabbage-loving ass. He knocks, and Abe opens the door quickly, like he was waiting for Rob. He supposes he was.

“Make yourself at home,” Abe says, gesturing around his room. “My roommate’s out, so you can sit wherever.”

Rob sits on Abe’s bed, and begins to question why he even came here after an awkward silence creeps into the room. Abe eventually sits down besides him, and in a fit of spontaneous idiocy Rob rests his head on Abe’s shoulder. Abe seems to tense at that, but after a few minutes he relaxes and puts his arm around Rob. Rob has no idea what he is doing, and if Abe wasn’t so warm and comfortable, he would have almost certainly left by now.

The minutes stretch on as they continue to sit like that, silently enjoying each other's company and trying very hard not to think about the connotations of sitting on a bed together. Rob feels himself growing drowsy, and he feels his eyes start to drift closed after a while. 

~ ~ ~

This very well might have been the worst thing that has ever happened to Rob. It’s not that the sensation of sleeping with Abe was particularly disagreeable, it was actually remarkably nice. And therein lies the problem. Rob woke up wrapped around a half naked Abraham Woodhull and the first thing he thought was “Abe has really soft hair.” Not, you know, a _normal_ thought, like “why is Abe shirtless,” or “why am I in bed with Abe” or even “how does Abe keep his sheets so soft.” And Rob has somehow managed to get entangled in Abe’s sheets, so he can’t even just leave and pretend that none of this ever happened. He’s being _held hostage_. He needs to leave, and probably take a cold shower too. But he can’t, so he just lies there and tries to avoid the temptation to run his hands through Abe’s hair.

Eventually Abe wakes up, and manages to detach himself from Rob. Neither of them say anything, obviously deciding to pretend that this never happened. Abe gets up and goes to make them both some coffee while Rob stretched in Abe’s bed and tries to collect his thoughts. He doesn’t have work for another couple of hours, so there's really nothing keeping from from staying in Abe’s bed. There is, of course, the small issue that it is _Abe’s_ bed, and Abe would probably rather not have to be reminded of Rob for a few hours. So Rob quickly slips out when Abe’s making coffee, and avoids thinking about the sinking feeling in his stomach when he leaves. 

~ ~ ~

Abe stops coming to the shop after that. Rob tries to convince himself that it’s just a coincidence, that Abe is just busy. But after two weeks Rob stops hoping that every jingle from the old bell in front is Abe, and goes back to playing checkers against himself. Ben and Caleb notice his mood, and are nice enough not to pry, and Rob can tell that they’re trying to give him some space. It’s a nice touch, but Rob misses Abe. Nothing’s going to fix that, and even if Abe comes back it's going to be different. But it’s fine. Rob fucked it up, now all he needs to do is forget about Abe and go back to the way it was before. 

~ ~ ~

After Abe stops coming to the shop, Rob promises himself that he’s not going to seek him out. If Abe doesn’t want to talk to him, so be it. 

It takes him a month to break. 

It’s ten at night, Ben and Caleb are out, and Rob just misses Abe. Plus, it’s not like one text is going to do anything serious. 

text to: abe- 10:08 PM

can i come over?

text from: abe- 10:08 PM

please

Rob quickly walks over to Abe’s dorm, almost forgetting that he’s wearing one of his oldest shirts and gross sweatpants. Whatever, Abe has seen him all gross and sick. He’s sure he’ll survive. The door is unlocked when Rob gets there, and he lets himself in. 

“You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked, you never know who might wander in,” Rob says as way of greeting. Abe looks… like a mess honestly. He has bags under his eyes, and he looks more frumpled than usual. 

“Why are you here?” Rob’s still standing awkwardly by the door when Abe ask him, and he suddenly stops moving because honestly… he doesn’t know. 

“I guess I missed you. I don’t know. Do you want me to go?” 

“No, please don’t.”

Abe moves to get up and quickly crosses the room to where Rob is standing. He stands a little too close, and with anyone else Rob would be annoyed, but it’s _Abe_ , so he isn’t. 

“I really like you. Like- a lot. And I get if that’s weird for your, since we are sort of friends and that's why I stopped coming to Culper’s because I thought you hated me but I-” Abe starts rambling and looking down at his shoes, and Rob is sort of reeling because he maybe also likes Abe? He’s pretty sure that that’s what this is. That’s- okay. 

Abe finally shuts up, and starts looking at Rob with a weird look on his face, like he’s trying really hard not to look nervous about something, and Rob finds it way too endearing.

About then is when they kiss. Rob can’t actually remember who started it, and Caleb gives them endless shit for “not even being able to kiss properly, jesus.” But it’s a good kiss, as first kisses go. It’s warm and soft and Rob may or may not run his hands through Abe’s hair. Eventually they break to breathe, and Abe gives him this _look_ , like Rob just hung the stars, and he thinks that he could stay for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> did you get the thing with baker? im not sure if it will make sense to anyone but me. i think im going to make a series out of this, cuz i know i wanna write some tallster in this verse. itll be like the post-bleacher domestic stuff only worse. so look forward to that.


End file.
